Puigdemont surrenders, his comrades-in-arms sacrificed him

“Moncloa’s plan [e.g. the plan of the Spanish Parliament] has triumphed, I only hope that it’s true and thanks to this, everyone can leave prison. If not this we would be the biggest laughingstock in history”, Carles Puigdemont, the leader of JxCat, wrote via Signal messenger to ex-counselor Toni Comín. The message was filmed on camera by Ana Rosa Quintana program reporter from behind the Toni’s back and was aired on the 31st of January in exclusive report on Telecinco.

Everyone was awaiting a historical event in the Catalan Parliament on the 30th of January due to a planned inauguration of Carles Puigdemont. Both the National Congress of Catalonia (NCC) and Committee for the Defense of the Republic (CDR) urged their followers to support that historical session planned to begin at 15:00. Parliament’s president from the Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC) Roger Torrent, however, claimed at around 10:00 that he postpones the inauguration of candidate Puigdemont. This news was received with anger by some circles of Catalonia’s independence supporters both in and out of the Parliament and split their ranks.

Who might become the potential new president and the body of Catalan government remain a puzzle for everyone after the decision of Parliament’s President from ERC to postpone the plenary Parliament meeting and the inauguration of Belgium-residing Puigdemont. That decision challenges the decision of Constitutional Court of Spain.

The cancellation of the plenary Catalan Parliament meeting and of Puigdemont’s inauguration threw in a tension to the ranks of the independence supporters. A confrontation rises between ERC and Puigdemont’s party (Catalan European Democratic Party) together with JxCat coalition (“Together for Catalonia”). There are voices of sympathy towards Torrent’s decision even in Puigdemont’s party.

At the same time, On January 30, Puigdemont’s supporters caused a disturbance by storming Parc de la Ciutadella in front of the Parliament. The manifestation grew into clashes with the police. Mass media reported that at least three protesters and ten Mossos d’Esquadra’s policemen were injured in the clashes. Catalan police (Mossos d’Esquadra) did not manage to stop Puigdemont’s supporters who broke into the park. At first, the protesters refusing “to retreat” claimed at night that they will be staying in the camp in the Parc de la Ciutadella until the new president is approved. Later they cancelled that decision via voting and went away.